essay stating why people join gangs great insightGangsGangs are a violent reality that people have to deal with in today's cities. What hasmade these groups come about? Why do kids feel that being in a gang is both an acceptableand prestigious way to live? The long range answer to these questions can only be speculatedupon, but in the short term the answers are much easier to find. On the surface, gangs are adirect result of human beings' personal wants and peer must find the way that these morals aregiven to the individual. Unfortunately, these can only be hypothesized. However, by looking atthe way people are influenced in society, I believe there is good evidence to point the bl ...view middle of the document...
'The EndsJustifies the Means' mentality is also taught through many shows where the 'goody guy'captures the 'bad guy' through violence and is then being commended. A young child sees thisa perfectly acceptable because he knows that the 'bad guy' was wrong but has no idea of whatacceptable apprehension techniques are.Gore in television also takes a big part in influencing young minds. Children see goryscenes and are fascinated by these things that they have not seen before. Older viewers seegore and are not concerned with the blood but rather with the pain the victim must feel. Ayounger mind doesn't make this connection. Thus a gore fascination is formed, and has beenseen in several of my peers. Unfortunately kids raised with this sort of television end upgrowing up with a stronger propensity to becoming a violent gang member or 'violent-acceptant' person.'Gangs bring the delinquent norms of society into intimate contact with theindividual.'1, (Clinard). So, as you can see if TV leads a child to believe that violence is thenorm this will manifest itself in the actions of the child quite, often in a gang situation. This isespecially the case when parents don't spend a lot of time with their kids atthe TV explaining what is right and what is wrong. Quite often newer books and some types ofmusic will enforce this type of thought and ideas.Once this mentality is installed in youngsters they become increasingly prone to beingeasily pushed into a gang situation by any problem at home or elsewhere. For instance, in poorfamilies with many children or upper-middle class families where parents are always working,the children will often feel deprived of love. Parents can often feel that putting food on thetable is enough love. Children of these families may often go to the gang firstly out of boredomand to belong somewhere. As time goes on, a form of love or kinship develops between thegang members and the child. It is then that the bond between the kid and the gang is completedbecause the gang has effectively taken the place of the family.The new anti social structure of cities also effects the ease in which a boy/girl can joina gang. ' The formation of gangs in cities, and most recently in suburbs, is facilitated by thesame lack of community among parents. The parents do not know what their children are doingfor two reasons: First, much of the parents' lives is outside the local community, while thechildren's lives are lived almost totally within it. Second, in a fully developed community, thenetwork of relations gives every parent, in a sense, a community of sentries who can keep himinformed of his child's activities. In modern living-places (city or suburban), where such anetwork is attenuated, he no longer has such sentries.'2, ( Nisbet).In male gangs problems occur as each is the members tries to be the most manly. Thisoften leads to all members participating in 'one-up-manship'. Quite often this will then lead toeach member trying to commit a big...
